The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Hindustani classical music, the classical music of Northern India, is a musical system that functions within a rhythmic framework that is cyclic. This cyclic rhythm framework is known as Taal or Tala. Many talas exist and include various numbers of beats, the most common of which is made up of 16 beats and is known as Teental (or Tintal, Tintaal, among other variations). Other cycles, however, exist made up of 6, 7, 10, and 12 beats, just to name a few of the more common talas (known as Dadra, Rupak, Jhaptal and Ektal respectively). Some talas even exist that are made up of fractional numbers of beats; 6½ beats, 8½ beats, and 10¼ beats are examples of this.
Within any tala there exists a hierarchy of beats with the most prominent beat being the first beat of the cycle. This first beat is known as the sam (pronounced sum) and is represented by a plus (+) sign.
The Tihai
The Tihai is a ubiquitous cadential figure within Hindustani music that consists of a rhythmic phrase, expressed either percussively or melodically, which is repeated three times and which commonly resolves to the first beat of the tala (the sam), or to other prominent places within the tala. In performance situations, the general theory is that the first repetition introduces the musical material of the tihai to the audience, while during the second repetition they discern that a tihai is being played and by the third repetition are anticipating its cathartic resolution to the sam.
The Palas
Each of the three repetitions of a tihai is known as a pala, therefore, tihais are said to be made up of three palas, where the palas are of equal length. There are some rare exceptions that break this rule, where the last pala of a tihai is either compressed or expanded to create a sense of surprise, or where the palas successively expand or contract, but from this point onwards, it will be assumed that the three palas of any given tihai are of equal length, as this is the case with the vast majority of tihais. It will also be assumed that the two gaps separating the 3 palas are of equal length.
Tihais may start on any beat, or at any point in between any two beats in any tala, and the palas of a tihai may be of any arbitrary length. The primary musical function of tihais is to create a sense of rhythmic tension and anticipation that is resolved with a strong feeling of arrival, cadence, or catharsis when the tihai concludes.
An example of a simple tihai in Teental may be notated as follows:
123456'(+)Tete'kata'gedi'gene'dha−'−789101112'tete'kata'gedi'gene'dha−'−131415161'tete'kata'gedi'gene'(+)dha
Here the phrase “tete kata gedi gene dha” (which represents a musical phrase played on Tabla, a prominent North Indian drum) is being repeated 3 times. The tihai begins and ends on sam (+). The apostrophes (') represent the 16 beats of the rhythm cycle (there are 17 apostrophes in this example, including the sam of the following cycle). Each pala is 4 beats long with a punctuating note (dha) on the 5th beat, and there are 3 half-beats of space in between each pala (notated as: -'-).
When learning to play an instrument that is able to implement such a rhythmic cycle, it can be challenging to learn the mechanics of properly playing individual notes as well as visualizing and producing proper tihais. Students have not had a system or method creating and visualizing valid tihais conforming to a predetermined framework.
What is needed is a system and method for creating and visualizing valid tihais conforming to a predetermined framework.